Sunday 15th January 2023 Elmley NR on Isle of Sheppey

 

Sunday 15^th January 2023

Elmley Nature Reserve, Isle of Sheppey

Ashdown Bird Group

(8 members present)

Trip Report

Our first outing of 2023 took us to Elmley Nature Reserve on the windswept Isle of Sheppey.  Thankfully, the rain held off. 

Last year we had exceptional views of short-eared owls here but this year they are hardly showing at all.  They are present, in good numbers, but choosing to hunt nocturnally, well after the reserve has closed its doors for the day.  The long-eared owl is also on site but it has rarely been seen during the day.

Our route today took in a couple of extra paths.  We started by heading west down to the Swale estuary to Clay Reach before heading north along the riverbank for a while.  After lunch back at the centre, we followed our usual path, easterly to the Well Marsh Hide.  As dusk approached we decided against relocating to the raptor viewing point at Capel Fleet, choosing instead to stay at Elmley and visit the South Fleet Hide.

 

Courtesy of Martin Jeffrey

 A very helpful volunteer engaged with us as we assembled in the car park and pointed out what we might expect to see today.  One of the things she mentioned was little owl.  Earlier, she had been watching 2 of them in a bush, behind the oak trees, just a few metres north of where we were standing.  When she offered to show me the exact location I jumped at the chance.  When we got there, only one was showing and that one was very well camouflaged.

•      When the group joined us we were all able to get a good look at the owl – some like me needing more help than others to pick out the bird.

There’s a little owl in there somewhere – courtesy of Alison Playle

That’s better! – courtesy of Alison Playle

• ·         As we walked down to the Swale estuary, John and Mark caught sight of a hen harrier just before it flew over the top of the hillside and out of view.  That was our only sighting of this species today.
• ·         The rest of us were busy watching the first of the many marsh harriers that we would see today.
• ·         On the Swale the black-tailed godwits were feeding on the mud. 

Black-tailed godwits - courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• ·         Also present were curlew, redshank, lapwing, dunlin, shelduck, grey plover, oystercatcher, a couple of little grebes and a solitary avocet.
• ·         On the return leg to the car park a meadow pipit, a couple of pied wagtails, a couple of skylarks and several reed buntings caught the eye, but the stand out bird was a kingfisher that shone magnificently in the bright sunshine as it flew around the reedbed.

 

Meadow pipit - courtesy of Alison Playle

 

Pied wagtail - courtesy of Alison Playle

 

After lunch at the Visitor Centre we enjoyed watching loads of birds from the viewing wall adjacent to the toilet block.

• ·         Huge numbers of teal and wigeon provided the wallpaper for the other species enjoying the glorious weather today.

Teal – courtesy of Alison Playle

 

Geese were in short supply today and those that were there didn’t come to the show until quite late in the day.

• ·         As well as the Canada geese and the greylags, there were decent numbers of Brent geese but we did not find any white-fronts or barnacle geese – surprising really, considering the large numbers present at nearby RSPB Shellness.

 

The decision to finish the day at the South Fleet hide proved a wise one as we added a few interesting species to our day list.

• ·         Kevin spotted a barn owl in the distance and quite soon afterwards another one was spotted.
• ·         A flock of golden plover flew high over the fields in front of us.

 

On the way back to the car park we added further birds of interest.

• ·         The highlights included shoveler, turnstone and a cracking drake pintail, all on the river on the incoming tide.
• ·         Mark finally got to hear the water rail he had promised everyone as we walked past the reedbed.
• ·         A couple of redwing flew by as we walked along the final stretch of the track back to the car park.
• ·         Sadly we didn’t see any short-eared owls but we did see a third barn owl which flew very close to us.

Barn Owl – courtesy of Alison Playle

 

• ·         Some of us were lucky to see a fourth barn owl as we exited the site.

What a lovely day out – nothing rare or special turned up but with a species count of over 60 there was something for everyone.  Thankfully the wind abated as the day went on, making it a very pleasant situation all round. 

 

Thanks Martin for another top-drawer birding trip!

Bob Hastings

Today’s species list

Name:	Count		Name:	Count
Avocet	1		Little Egret	32
Barn Owl	2		Little Grebe	33
Black-headed Gull	3		Little Owl	34
Black-tailed Godwit	4		Mallard	35
Blackbird	5		Marsh Harrier	36
Blue Tit	6		Meadow Pipit	37
Brent Goose	7		Moorhen	38
Canada Goose	8		Mute Swan	39
Carrion Crow	9		Oystercatcher	40
Cetti's Warbler	10		Pheasant	41
Chaffinch	11		Pied Wagtail	42
Common Gull	12		Pintail	43
Coot	13		Red-legged Partridge	44
Cormorant	14		Redshank	45
Curlew	15		Redwing	46
Dunlin	16		Reed Bunting	47
Dunnock	17		Robin	48
Golden Plover	18		Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon	49
Great Black-backed Gull	19		Rook	50
Great Crested Grebe	20		Shelduck	51
Grey Heron	21		Shoveler	52
Grey Plover	22		Skylark	53
Greylag Goose	23		Starling	54
Hen Harrier	24		Stonechat	55
Herring Gull	25		Teal	56
House Sparrow	26		Turnstone	57
Jackdaw	27		Water Rail	58
Kestrel	28		Wigeon	59
Kingfisher	29		Woodpigeon	60
Lapwing	30		Wren	61
Lesser Black-backed Gull	31

 

Species count = 61  including 3 new ones today - little owl, golden plover and pied wagtail.

Also added to the year list was the tawny owls that I heard last nihght as I walked my dog Odin round the housing estate where I live.

2023 species count = 95